Associated Press announces 2017 staff awards

NEW YORK (AP) — Coverage of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, the demise of Venezuelan society and fighting in Mosul, Iraq, won top honors in the 2017 Associated Press Media Editors Awards for AP staff, showcasing the news organization's excellence around the globe.

Hannah Dreier was a double winner for her work on "Venezuela Undone," which painted vivid portraits of a once-wealthy society slipping into chaos and lawlessness. Dreier won the Samuel G. Blackman Award for Enterprise Reporting and also the John Winn and Margo C. Miller Award for excellence by an AP staffer 30 or younger.

"Her reporting is smart, brave, wide and deep," judges said of Dreier. "Her writing is riveting, with a narrative drive built around compelling characters, critical situations and telling details. She produced these stories in an environment of great difficulty and considerable danger, using both traditional and alternative storytelling forms."

Martha Irvine was honored individually and as part of the teams that produced "Ben's Voice," which judges called "a compelling look at the how parents cope with adult children with autism," and "Beyond the Bullet," a look at one boy's new life after being shot, apparently randomly, on the streets of Chicago.

For the second year in a row, photographer Felipe Dana won for a body of work. This year, it was "The Battle in Mosul," in the photo news story category, following last year's win for "Zika: Ground Zero" in the photo feature story category.

"Dana's package of photographs has a tremendous story arc, ushering viewers immediately into the fighting at the scene and then exploring all the consequences of that violence, before pulling back at the end to provide a sense of perspective," judges said.

The annual AP contest honors the best staff work in news, multimedia and photography. Teams of judges are comprised of national board members of the Associated Press Media Editors. Winners will be recognized at the ASNE-APME-APPM News Leadership Conference being held Oct. 8-11 in Washington, D.C.

"Rather than falling back on a 'gotcha' tone — which would have diminished the authoritative and balanced tone — the work portrays in a straightforward manner a situation that is thought-provoking, even tragic," judges said.